Arianespace

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Arianespace
Company typeLaunch Service Provider
IndustryAerospace
Founded1980
Headquarters
Courcouronnes
,
France
Number of employees
292 [1]
Websitearianespace.com

Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial space transportation company.[2] It undertakes the production, operation, and marketing of the Ariane 5 rocket launcher as part of the Ariane programme.[3] Two other launch systems are offered by the company, the Soyuz-2 as a medium-lift alternative to Ariane 5, and the Vega as a lighter one.[4]

As of 2004, Arianespace held more than 50 percent of the world market for boosting satellites to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).[5] More than 240 commercial launches have occurred since May 22, 1984, and Arianespace states that the total number of launch contracts signed since Ariane launches commenced operations in 1984 is 285.[3] Arianespace uses the Centre Spatial Guyanais in French Guiana as a launch site. It has its headquarters in Courcouronnes, Essonne, France,[6] near Évry.[7]

On 21 October 2011 Arianespace launched the first Soyuz rocket ever from outside former Soviet Territory. The payload was two Galileo GPS satellites.[8]

The company and its infrastructure

Arianespace has 24 shareholders from 10 European countries, including:[9]

Country Shareholders Capital
 France 7 60.12%
 Germany 2 18.62%
 Italy 2 9.36%
 Belgium 3 3.15%
 Switzerland 2 2.51%
 Sweden 2 2.30%
 Spain 3 2.01%
 Netherlands 1 1.82%
 Norway 1 0.10%
 Denmark 1 not significant

Total of 99.99% due to round-off

Corporate management is structured as follows:

Position Name
CEO & Chairman Jean-Yves Le Gall
Quality Vice-President Gérard Gradel
Senior Vice-President of Programs Laurent Louis
Senior Vice-President of Marketing Jacques Breton
General Secretary, Senior Vice-President of Finances Jean-Max Puech
Senior Vice-President of Engineering Édouard Perez

Offices

Location of Office Head of Branch
Évry, France Jean-Yves Le Gall
United States Clayton Mowry
Tokyo, Japan Jean-Louis Claudon
Singapore Richard Bowles

As of 1 January 2010, Arianespace employed 323 people at its French headquarters, at its launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, and at offices in Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.

Ariane launch vehicles

Since the first launch in 1979, there have been several versions of the Ariane launch vehicle:

  • Ariane 1, first successful launch on December 24, 1979
  • Ariane 2, first successful launch on November 20, 1987 (the first launch on May 30, 1986 failed)
  • Ariane 3, first successful launch on August 4, 1984
  • Ariane 4, first successful launch on June 15, 1988
  • Ariane 5, first successful launch on October 30, 1997 (the first launch on June 4, 1996 failed).

See also

References

  1. ^ "A launch for the International Space Station" (PDF). Arianespace. Retrieved 2008-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) [dead link]
  2. ^ "Ariane - The first commercial space transportation system". adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2008-03-07. [dead link]
  3. ^ a b "Arianespace was founded in 1980 as the world's first launch services and solutions company". arianespace.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  4. ^ "Service & Solutions". arianespace.com. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
  5. ^ John McCormick (2004). The European Union (3 ed.). Westview Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-8133-4202-3.
  6. ^ "Russians, French sign space contract.(UPI Science Report)." United Press International. 12 April 2005. Retrieved on 24 September 2009.
  7. ^ "Contact us." Arianespace. Retrieved on 24 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Arianespace Launches First European Soyuz". Interspacenews.com. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  9. ^ "Arianespace shareholders represent scientific, technical, financial and political entities from 10 different European countries". arianespace.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
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